Chess and Gender

Through out the history of the game, chess has been dominated by males. More men play the game and more spectators are male. Of course, there are many female chess players in the game today, although they are still greatly outnumbered. Female only tournaments exist and many women have gone on to become grand masters. However, the best players in the world are still considered to be male. This leads us, then, to ask why there is there such a difference between women and men in chess? Is it purely due to the fact women are chess capable of playing chess?

The answer is no. Firstly, it can be considered a psychological issue, and to a certain extent, an anatomical one too. It is a known fact that men and women's brains differ. Physiologically, men and women also show considerable differences, which play an important part in the game of chess. There have been many theories put forward to explain why women are seen as inferior in the world of chess.

The first is social pressure on women. Women undoubtedly have more demands on their attention throughout life, and thus they have less time to devote to a single cause. This could be said to be a gross generalisation, especially in the world today, however the basic principles ring true- women have more responsibility to shoulder. Sex roles for men and women are still vastly different and, until they are equal, the difference between men and women in chess is likely to persist. The rise in women appearing in chess could be attributed to the development of chess programmes in schools. With chess being offered to more young girls at primary school and secondary school age, they are starting to become more dominant in the field. This was a similar situation to that of science in schools. Traditionally science was offered to boys, as it was assumed that girls would not be interested in it. However, today women rival men in the world of science and to restrict female access to a scientific education would be considered preposterous.

Thus, the age of introduction of women to the world of chess may help to explain why woman trail in the game. A good example of this is the Polgar sisters. They were taught by their father to play chess from a very young age and now Judit Polgar is the only woman ever to become a US Open Champion and the only woman to ever have made it into the men’s top 10 Grand master list. She is currently number 19 in the top 100 players in the world and is the only woman present in the list. There are also biological theories for differences. Women have typically less physical strength than men and it is believed that this gives them a lower capacity for maintaining concentration in long matches. The competitive male nature also plays a part in their success at chess. Men as a sex are more competitive than women and it is believed that this drive to success is what gives males the upper hand in chess. Chess is often considered a task that epitomises spatial awareness. Research has shown that women tend to excel in verbal intelligence, where as men excel in spatial items. This may help to explain why men appear to be better than women at chess. It has even been suggested that these differences also affect whether or not a women would be attracted to chess in the first place.

However, it is impossible to attribute gender differences in chess to only one factor. It appears to be interplay of both social, physiological and biological factors. This makes it an extremely difficult area to investigate and therefore until women equal men in the game of chess, it will be impossible to attribute the differences to any one factor. What to you think of this opinion? Do you agree?

Jon Scally (I hate chess I just thought this issue was kind of interesting!)